For each project, you’ll want to build in time for:

• Brainstorming: This is the first phase where your idea comes to life in a project outline. Decide what you want to achieve and which stakeholders must be involved to meet your goal. Set a due date and set up any necessary meetings.
• Planning: This can include determining the project’s scope, determining its budget, finalizing deadlines, and determining who is working on each task. It also includes mapping out any campaigns needed for each project (social media, PR, sales promotions, landing pages, events, etc.).
• Execution: This third phase is all about your project launch. Decide on a date to launch and monitor the progress of the project. Set up a system for tracking metrics and KPIs.
• Analysis: In this final phase, you will analyze all of your performance data to see whether or not your marketing efforts paid off. Did you meet your goals? Did you complete your projects on time and within budget?

How to Create a Marketing Plan

1. Research, research, research.
2. Define and refine your target audience.
3. Define your SMART goals.
4. Analyze your tactics.
5. Set your budget.
6. Document it.

The first step in creating a marketing plan is conducting market research. This is where I gather all the data and insights to complete SWOT and competitor analyses.

Your buyer persona should include demographic information such as age, gender, and income, as well as psychographic information such as pain points and goals.

What drives your audience? What problems do they have that your product or service can fix?

You can't go somewhere unless you have a road map.”

For someone geographically challenged, like me, that was literal advice. But it can also be applied metaphorically to marketing.

You can't improve your ROI unless you know your goals.

After you've figured out your current situation and know your audience, you can begin to define your smart goals.